Digging, looking for, chasing shadows

I actually just saw a television program on this very thing starring top dog trainer Victoria Stillwell (the program is called "Its Me or the Dog" and plays on Animal Planet). The shadow/light/reflection obsession is actually a form of obsession disorder (similar to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in humans). Many dogs are entertained by shadows, etc. but when they begin to salivate or chew excessively at the forms on the wall it becomes an obsession. Many dog breeds are actually prone to this disorder, having especially fine tuned hunting senses meant to pick up on shadows, etc.

The trainer in the program used a buzz word to interupt the obsessive behavior. Victoria set up a situation in which the dog would be exposed to the shadows and would call out "Enough!" in an attention getting tone (not negative or positive in nature), clap her hands, and walk from the room (everyone else in the room would need to leave as well). She repeated this exercise repeatedly until the dog followed her out of the room. The idea was that any attention, positive or negative, would reinforce the behavior. Praise was given when the dog began to follow her out. This all worked very well with the Irish Setter on the program who was so obsessive that he would actually fall into a trance and crave the reflections and shadows -- it had all become a ritual (much like handwashing for people who suffer from OCD).

The dog also responded to light reflections caused by cookingware. The owners were made to walk in front of the reflection and the dog when he seemed to be focused on the reflection. The owner would simultaneously call out the buzz word, "Enough!" If a dog has a form of obsessive disorder, they may begin to transfer their obsession if they cannot seek out their normal obsessions. It is important to stop these obsessions as well with the same buzz word and a reclamation of the object or body block. The dog on the program began to see amazing results within two weeks.

I hope this helps. The show is really an amazing one and Vistoria Stillwell is very, very knowledgable.

wouldnt giving her a kong be rewarding her for playing with shadows? Since the kongs are rewards